garymd

Coming up on 4 years, both me and the wife. I have no cravings whatsoever. I can't apologize enough to all my friends & family who put up with the stench all those years as I was puffing away, especially while on the road. Was at a Further (G-Dead) show at Radio City Music Hall Saturday night and was appalled to see people lighting up (yes, cigarettes) at their seats and putting them out on the beautiful carpet. I wouldn't mind so much if they were lighting up a pipe but this was disgusting IMO. Congrats to all that have quit and stuck to it!

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/64744/Miles_Davis-Seven_Steps_To_Heaven-45_RPM_Vinyl_Record http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/64743/Miles_Davis-Someday_My_Prince_Will_Come-45_RPM_Vinyl_Record

I also have KOB on SACD and I think it's worth owning although I haven't heard the newer redbook. I prefer the 180 gram LP but both are slightly brighter than the original 6-eye LP (sold mine for a small fortune last year). BTW - For you vinyl fans, you can still buy the 45s of Some Day My Prince Will Come (blows away the MFSL version) and Seven Steps To Heaven. They are both amazing and well worth the $50 price tag. Seven Steps is now one of my "show off the system" LPs.

Hey Bill! I'm not here much anymore either but I can answer your question. The 12AT7 in the V1 slot is the KEY tube for the phono section. The other 12AT7 isn't as important. Once I discovered a late 50s/early 60s Telefunken ECC81 (-- EDIT --- It's an ECC801S), my search was over. You might have to pay $100 or more for a good one but it's worth it if vinyl is still important to you. Just buy one for the V1 slot and buy something less expensive for the other 12AT7 (V3 I think). Good luck. I hope all is well. Gary P.S. My outdoor speakers still rock!

Maybe you should move to CA where you'll be safe.

one more........

another........

Here are the pics Craig sent when he was burning mine in years ago.......

Thanks for this. I listened to a selection from their site and it sounds great on the PC. Attempting to locate a vinyl version, seems to be out of stock.... http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/59104/Cowboy_Junkies-Trinity_Revisited-180_Gram_Vinyl_Record

I miss the NM Topps 1955 and 1956 complete sets my uncle gave me when I was a kid. I sold them both for under $500 in '83, just before the values skyrocketed. Had to feed the family. I also miss my zebrawood Heresys.

I have a TD145 that looks identical but has a different arm and no wood trim. I used to own a 160 that looked just like this one. I think that's where the confusion lies. They are very similar. My 145 does have the auto-lift while the 160 did not. They are nice sounding tables for the money. I spent $100 for mine but it now sits in the basement needing a new headshell & arm rewiring. Seems you always get what you pay for. If anyone needs one for parts or wants to fix one up, shoot me a pm.

I'm pretty sure I represent about a third of the increase. I just can't help myself. No more need for gear so almost all my audio dollars go toward new vinyl. There are some amazing new reissues out there (more than a few disappointments too). Travis - You need to show up more than twice a year to get those "top notch" monikers.

My wife bought me an IPod Touch for our anniversary last month. Not only can you play MP3s but you can also download and watch movies, use it as a 2-way camera, take pictures or video. I would never have bought it for myself but have been enjoying it while cutting the lawn or waiting at the Drs. office. IITunes is very easy to use as others have said. Although I've had mine over a month now and have filled it with music from my own CD library (haven't purchased anything from ITunes), I've only used it 3 times, maybe 4. I don't know anything about other players but it sounds like they're probably all about the same with the exception of the software used to load it with "stuff." The IPod Touch (4th generation) gives you a full screen, internet and a camera on each side so others can see you and/or what you're looking at while you're texting each other (a feature I'll never use), all for about $250 or a little less. There are also a gazzillion applications you can purchase.

Now THAT is a score. Very nice.

Glad you like them! I had a quite different experience with my first pair. I was accoustomed to Cornwalls so when I got mine home and tucked into their corners, I was extremely disappointed. It took new crossovers and amplification to make them "amazing" to my ears but since I did that, there's no going back. I also have a room with mediocre acoustics (at best). There's no doubt they can be improved tremendously for a relatively small investment but if they sound great as-is, just enjoy for a while. Congrats!

Not so rare on Ebay either. Looks like you can get a decent copy for about $5-$10: http://music.shop.ebay.com/Records-/306/i.html?_nkw=bare+trees&_catref=1&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282 I have most of the early FM LPs. Unfortunately, they all sound pretty bad. I love their early stuff but the recordings are pretty awful.

Elton John - Madman Across The Water - SACD - (or most any EJ SACD) Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser - SACD Art Pepper - Straight, No Chaser - SACD (just a coincidence, not a misprint) Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade (Reiner/CSO) - Living Stereo SACD Diana Krall - The Girl In The Other Room (I use the title track to demo) - SACD Steely Dan - Gaucho - SACD Yes - Fragile DSOTM - either MFSL or SACD (only time I turn on the sub - not that it needs it......)

I think my guy went out of business. He still might do some work on the side though and he has a CD I loaned him 2 years ago! I'll try to get hold of him. I want that CD back.

I love you guys too.[:$] BTW Kaiser - If you check my system profile you'll see I have the Vector and Transfiguration Temper W to go with the 2001. And yes, you are correct. The 2001 was the first in the 2000 series to have the suspension "pods" all the way around.

Those look great. I think you might make the dings more noticable by trying to fix them.

It all depends on what you want from this table. Once I realized I could never go back to CDs (sounds strange, doesn't it?), I decided to get the last table I would ever need. It took time and money to come to that realization but once I did, I took the time I needed to piece together my main table. IMO - There is HUGE improvement to be had going from a starter table like the Project to a $1500+ setup. VPIs are nice but they really get you with all the upgrades. You can buy a Scout for around $1600 but there are about $10K in available upgrades. If you can resist, it's a nice sounding table for under $2K. If you want to keep it to under $500 or less, I think the best bang for the buck is a used Thorens TD160 or 165 (or similar belt drive table) with a decent $200 cart. I recommend buying a used cart from a reliable seller. It's like buying a used car, you can get way more for the money. For the record, I've owned a Technics SL1800, a few different Thorens tables, a VPI, a Music Hall MMF5 (same as a Project) and currently have 3 tables in my 3 systems: Basis 2001, Thorens TD124, Thorens TD145. The Basis blows the rest away but it should for the cost. I bought it piece by piece (table/arm/cart) very patiently and was able to put it all together for a fraction of retail. I knew exactly what I wanted and got lucky finding demos and used components. The TD145 is an inexpensive table with an inexpensive Shure M97E cart and I think it blows away the Technics I used to own. Others disagree but I've never heard a direct drive Technics I really thought sounded good.

Do what I do, cover them up with nic nacs Just no potted plants! Not to burst your bubble but aren't Fortes from the Legend Series? Just kidding. I believe they are considered to be from the extended Heritage family. Congrats and enjoy. BTW - Go with an Academy. They come up for sale quite often these days and are fairly reasonable compared to years past. I paid way too much for mine!

Rich, I'm not sure what model number mine are but I think they're very similar to the 650s. If I remember correctly, you heard mine, right? They aren't LSIs but placement is much easier!

Yeah, It's real interesting. You know what's even more interesting? These same records (Clarity from Classic Records) that don't have any grooves on the other side because the "open spaces" of the grooves can create resonances, have, in fact, the company name and other stuff stamped on the blank side. Apparently their own name doesn't cause resonances. FWIW: I've bought a number of and returned all these LP from Clarity. Ticks, pops, even skips. No consistency whatsoever. One disc (of four/album) can be perfect and the next is a nightmare.The funny thing is the problems are less noticable on my lesser TT. LOL. My single sided Clarity Vinyl remains some of the best sounding vinyl I own. I believe their name is stamped on the blank side, not etched. Also, it sounds best on my high-end TT, pretty much dead quiet. That said, it seems they stopped producing Clarity Vinyl altogether. That might be due to the sale of Classic Records to Analogue Productions. Art - Any chance you'll be visiting the DC area in the near future? I'd love to play some single-sided LPs for you![Y][]

Excellent article. Thanks Larry.